| 1. |
- Fransson, Göran, 1968-, et al.
(author)
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Adequate digital competence – a close reading of the new national strategy for digitalization of the schools in Sweden
- 2018
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In: Seminar.net. - 1504-4831. ; 14:2, s. 217-228
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this paper, the notion of ‘adequate digital competence’, as it is used in the 2017 Swedish strategy for digitalization of the school system, is in focus. Based on a close reading of the strategy, three dimensions are formulated for discussion: time, context, and interpretation. These dimensions open a more general discussion about the content of policies regarding digital competence. The notion of striving for an ‘adequate digital competence’ for children, students, teachers, school leaders, and other school staff is loaded with a variety of possible meanings. The strategy provides guidance in some aspects, but leaves a lot to local enactment of the strategy.
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| 2. |
- Lindberg, Ola J., et al.
(author)
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Managing IT on a municipality level : on the role of strategists in developing digital competence
- 2018
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In: EDULEARN18 Proceedings. - : IATED. - 9788409027095 ; , s. 9016-9020
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In Sweden, the digitalization of K-12 schools has been ongoing for more than 30 years. Several larger governmental initiatives targeting issues such as the one-to-one classroom and teachers’ development of digital competence have been carried out, but the outcomes have not been as positive as hoped for. In the research literature, there is growing evidence of the importance of long-term and well-anchored strategies, such as functioning information and communication technology (ICT) plans, as well as calls for a system approach to understanding the leadership needed for the digitalization of K-12 schools. There is also research highlighting the importance of applying multilevel analysis for understanding ICT implementation and educational change. In autumn 2017, the Swedish government suggested one such strategy for the digitalization of Swedish schools. One interesting aspect in the strategy is the aim indicating that students, teachers, and school leaders, as well as other staff members working in the schools, should develop what is called “adequate digital competence.” Departing from data gathered within a 4-year longitudinal Swedish research project investigating the advanced use of information technology (IT) in upper secondary schools, this paper focuses on educational IT strategists/managers that work on a municipality level and their role in the process of developing digital competence in schools. Through semi-structured interviews, three educational IT strategists working in three different Swedish municipalities provided their views about their work description, their functions as strategists/managers, and their understanding of digital competence. The first analysis shows clear variations regarding, for example, how the strategists formulate their own role in the ongoing digitalization of the school, as well as under which conditions they can carry out their work.
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| 3. |
- Fransson, Göran, 1968-, et al.
(author)
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On the Swedish National Grade School for Digital Technologies in Education – GRADE : Expectations and experiences of doctorial students and supervisors
- 2018
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In: ICERI2018 Proceedings. - Sevilla : IATED. - 9788409059485 ; , s. 769-774
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Swedish National Graduate School for Digital Technologies in Education (GRADE) is a cooperative venture between six Swedish universities established during 2018. Within the field of educational sciences and in the area of digital technologies in education, GRADE aims to strengthen the expertise in the area and to increase national and international cooperation in research training activities.Over a number of years, and from multitude of sources (cf. Brown & Davis, 2004; Fisher, Higgins & Loveless, 2006; Kafai & Resnick 1996), research has stressed that increased digitalization in schools leads to a complexity that needs to be taken into account on different levels, from different perspectives and with different designs, methodologies and theoretical perspectives (cf. Olofsson, Lindberg, Fransson & Hauge, 2015; Price, Jewitt & Brown, 2013; Tondeur, Valcke & van Braak, 2008). At a micro-level, the learning situation of students, teachers and school-leaders changes and it becomes important to deepen the knowledge about the impact digital technologies has on the fundamental conditions for teaching and learning of different school subjects (cf. Chun, Kern & Smith 2016; Leung & Baccaglini-Frank, 2017). On a macro-level, conditions for education as such changes and digital technologies becomes an important object of study as agents of change (Wong & Li, 2008). The digitalization of K-12 schools has long been highlighted in policy as a necessity (cf. Kirkman et al, 2002; OECD, 2010). However, research and evaluations (cf. Fransson et al, 2012; OECD, 2015; Wastiau et al, 2013) show that many substantial challenges remain. One of the fundamental pillars of GRADE is the interdisciplinary approach. Several disciplines are present (Applied IT, Curriculum studies, Education, Informatics, Technology and Learning, Educational work, Work-interated Learning) in researching digital technologies in K-12 schools with the ambition to contribute to the continued implementation, integration and use of digital technologies in Swedish K-12 schools that stems from the evidence-based knowledge produced within the activities of GRADE. The research within GRADE will be characterized by close cooperation with stakeholders from school practice, with the aim to contribute to concrete school development. In GRADE, a multi-level approach that involves multiple layers or levels of school activities will be encouraged. When possible, studies will be longitudinal. This will imply studies from an organizational and management perspective, e.g. studies of school leaders and other members of senior management positions responsible for digital technology use and implementation. Also implied are studies of teachers' teaching practices and didactical considerations, as well as studies of the students in classrooms and their learning using digital technologies. This will also imply that several issues with a bearing on the digitalization of education, for example regarding school policy, teaching, learning, assessment and professional development will be researched from different perspectives and with different methodological approaches. In this paper, these points of departure will be explored based on the expectations and experiences of the first twelve admitted doctoral students and their supervisors.
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| 4. |
- Fransson, Göran, 1968-, et al.
(author)
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Digitalise and capitalise? : Teachers’ self-understanding in 21st-century teaching contexts
- 2019
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In: Oxford Review of Education. - : Routledge. - 0305-4985 .- 1465-3915. ; 45:1, s. 102-118
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The digitalisation of educational contexts has changed the practice of teaching and learning. In this, teachers have a key role in enacting digital technologies for this purpose and have different opportunities to do so. This article explores how digitalisation can affect teachers by focusing on: (a) how teachers manage to capitalise on digitalisation; and (b) how digitalisation can affect and reconstruct their self-understanding. Two teacher colleagues of English as a foreign language (EFL) in the same teaching team are interviewed and observed. Drawing on the interplay between self-image, self-esteem, job motivation, and task perception, it is shown how the teachers’ self-understanding is played out and changes due to the call for digitalisation. Whereas one of the teachers has been able to capitalise on digitalisation in a way that has been beneficial both professionally and personally, the other has felt pressurised by it. A conclusion is that a limited or extended use of digital technologies should not be taken as an indicator of teaching quality.
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| 5. |
- Fransson, Göran, 1968-, et al.
(author)
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Policy Narratives VS. The Actual Use of Digital Technologies. Practices That Never Meets?
- 2016
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Often great faith is given to the use of digital technologies to facilitate and transform teaching and learning in primary and secondary schools. Especially prominent are such a belief in various policy papers on a wide international level of supranational organizations such as the United Nations, OECD, or the European Union (Egea, 2014; Scheurmann & Pedro, 2009, Bassi, 201; cf. OECD 2015;) as well as at national levels (eg. Akcaoglu, 2015). Policy documents often mention digital technologies in terms of their ability and potential to improve and transform educational activities. Such statements can both be seen as part of a political rhetoric in order to push for change, as well as a belief that such claims are reasonable.Expressions of the reasonable to include digital technology and the use of IT in schools' activities appear in the various trans-national studies that aim to create a picture of the use of digital technologies in various European countries. Several such studies have been conducted in recent years (cf. OECD, 2015; Fredriksson, Gajek & Jedeskog, 2009; Blamire, 2009). Many of these studies have the aim to create a form of benchmarking process on the use of digital technologies in schools. The rhetoric of how digital technology can transform teaching and learning is also stressed by private operators offering services that in a simple way seems to be able to solve schools' problems with the use of digital technology and related applications (see eg. Grimaldi, 2013).However, educational contexts are complex and multidimensional. With scarce financial and human resources, teachers and other school staff is to deal with a variety of requirements, goals and expectations that are not always compatible with each other. In addition, a variety of complex relationships and positions as well as norms, traditions and values of what teaching and learning is and should be, and how it ought to take shape. According to Säljö (2010) research focusing the uptake and use of digital technologies in schools are not always clear and seldom indicate success (e.g. Hammond, 2013; Krange & Ludvigsen, 2009). The outcomes are far from straightforward when digital technologies are introduced either in general or in specific subjects or contexts of learning.AimThe purpose of this paper is to analyze and discuss differences in how digital technology is expected to be used for learning in schools in, on one hand, various policy documents and evaluations, and on the other hand, the use that is reported in research. In that sense, evaluations are seen as evaluations-as-policy, rather than 'objectice' search for knowledge.
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| 6. |
- Olofsson, Anders D, 1973-, et al.
(author)
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Can OLC in TPD be TEL?
- 2010
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In: The First Nordic Symposium on Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL). - Växjö : Linnéuniversitetet. ; , s. 59-61, s. 59-61
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Olofsson, Anders D., et al.
(author)
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Pedagogical digital competence for police teachers in relation to distance-based police education
- 2017
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In: INTED2017 Proceedings. - : The International Academy of Technology, Education and Development. - 9788461784912 ; , s. 4219-4227
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Introduction: In the last ten years higher education in Sweden has undergone major changes related to two specific parallel processes. First a process of digitalization, secondly an academisation process of what has previously been regarded as mainly vocational programmes for professions being delivered by other institutions than the universities. Examples of these are police education (Sjöberg, 2016) and fire-fighter training (Holmgren, 2015). The competence of the educators responsible for such programmes as well as the particular educational context for providing the courses are being re-defined. Central in this paper is the concept of Pedagogical Digital Competence (PDC) (Hall & From, 2013). PDC relates to the ability of teachers to plan and conduct, and continuously evaluate and revise, Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-supported training, based on theory, current research and proven experience in practice. PDC includes both practical (know-how) and conceptual (know-why) knowledge. During fall 2016, intensive organizational preparations as well as training of police teachers took place at the university in question with the purpose of being able to teach police students at a distance in spring of 2017. Important here was a course intended to develop the police educators´ PDC in order to make the move to a distance context and the ability to design distance courses. The course included learning theories and digital tools as well as in-practice training to increase the police teachers’ knowledge and skills in the tools and implement them in their teaching in practice. The attention in this paper is directed towards the PDC needed to be developed by police teachers in the context of the newly re-designed distance-based Swedish police education.Aim: The aim of this paper is to present a study of the police teachers self-rated abilities according to the model of PDC before and after a professional development course in ICT in education.Data and research design: Data consists of 21 police teachers who before and after the course made a self-evaluation of their PDC. The survey used consisted of three background questions and 28 statements with likert-scale answers. The statements corresponded to the police teachers’ self-evaluated knowledge in the domains of the so called Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) model as it was developed by Mishra & Koehler (2006, 2008). The paper also uses data from the course evaluations.Context: The plan for the PDC course was based on course development parallel with the police teachers gaining knowledge in new digital tools. During the course different digital tools were used to provide the teachers with ideas and they had the opportunity to work hands on with digital tools. Each course meeting included guest lectures providing good examples and best practice regarding the use of digital tools in the teaching practice. All in all the course consisted of five meetings.Conclusions: Tentative conclusions from the data shows that following the TPACK model the teachers on average was strongest on their content knowledge (CK) followed by their pedagogical knowledge (PK). On average they were weakest on the four knowledge domains related to technology. After they had finished the course their knowledge in these domains had moved and changed so that they now were stronger than before.
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| 9. |
- Olofsson, Anders D., et al.
(author)
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Uptake and use of digital technologies in primary and secondary schools : a thematic review of research
- 2015
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In: Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy. - Oslo : Universitetsforlaget. - 1891-943X. ; 10:4, s. 103-121
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This article is a review of international research on the uptake and use of digital technologies in primary and secondary schools. The aim was to provide a credible and clear picture of current research, together with some wellinformed suggestions as to how future research could develop. Two strategies were used: (1) identify themes within current research that indicate important lessons to be learned in relation to the uptake and use of digital technologies in primary and secondary schools, and (2) based on these lessons, identify which knowledge-gaps need to be closed and in the light of this suggest directions for further research. It is concluded that a rather complex and fragmented picture of the uptake and use of digital technologies emerges from the literature review. Three specific suggestions for research on the uptake and use of digital technologies in primary and secondary school are provided: (1) the outcomes of technology use in relation to different levels in the educational system, e.g. arenas of implementation and realization, (2) digital practices that are longitudinal and information-rich and that go beyond existing knowledge, and (3) initiatives for a renewal of theoretical and mmethodological approaches when designing and analyzing studies within the field.
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| 10. |
- Olofsson, Anders D., et al.
(author)
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What do upper secondary school teachers want to know from research on the use of ICT and how does this inform a research design?
- 2017
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In: Education and Information Technologies. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1360-2357 .- 1573-7608. ; 22:6, s. 2897-2914
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This study investigates what teachers taking part in a longitudinal research project on the use of ICT for teaching and learning in three upper secondary schools in Sweden want to learn more about. At the beginning of the project eighty-four teachers were invited to respond to a questionnaire relating to what teachers wanted to learn more about during their participation in a research project, both for themselves, their colleagues and their students. The questionnaire consisted of Likert-scale and open-ended questions. Sixty teachers responded, thereby yielding a response rate of 71%. In focus in this paper is a qualitative content analysis of the open-ended questions. The analysis revealed six desired areas of learning: (a) technological aspects, (b) how to use ICT for teaching and learning, (c) the Learning Management System (LMS), (d) safety and plagiarism, (e) best practice and (f) collaboration and professional development. The aspects of knowledge addressed in these themes were analysed and discussed in relation to the TPACK model. A conclusion that can be drawn from the analysis is that the teachers inquired different forms of knowledge and that interpretation of ‘technological pedagogical content knowledge’ only emerged in one of the themes. This study then informed the research design in multiple ways, the two most apparent being a survey of students acknowledging teachers’ expressed research interests and the design and implementation of a formative intervention group interview.
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